Ricochet

Markup

Kelly was frustrated. It was not even caused by her ouster by the higher-ups. In fact, she had always expected this. She always had this impression of hitting an invisible barrier at her job. The more she put effort in pursuit of the truth, the farther from it she was thrown. She was thankful for Morell for looking out for her in tough times though she wished he would assert his weight a bit more.

His former colleagues had told her he was quite active in his prime and was hands-on with his assignments. He was ambitious. He had since mellowed down after his house was vandalized in retaliation when he levied charges on an influential criminal. He had to send his family away. He had considered to leave everything behind. She would have done the same thing. At least he stayed on in a diminished role which helped her not lose her job. Bills don't get paid by itself.

She was not going to give up like that. First, Victor and Mark escaped prison, then people got killed on live TV. She was surprised that the news stayed on air for the whole week, an incredible feat, considering attention span and competition for ratings. Even though the police have historically used far more force in their response for things that merited half of what has happened, things have been kept surprisingly hush. Considering the utter lack of back-up provided for her by the department in the investigation, she had nagging suspicion that there were moles everywhere. Her removal from the case made her a little bit happy in a way. To be proven right is always a delight.

She had told Morell to out her for placing the tracking device on Will's vehicle, if a situation should arise putting all of them in trouble. She needed contacts. Her people on places she needed. She didn't mind being branded bad at her job if she needed to do it well. She was on the phone.

"Hi Finn, it's me, Kelly"

"I know... I can sense your call even before it happens at this point". He let out a chuckle. His tone then turned serious "I've been looking into the systems. Victor... Mark... their files are above my clearance level. It requires higher approval. It doesn't make sense... I can still access files of similarly notorious cases no problem. I am privy to whatever Morell is"

It was not the time to invoke hierarchy. The sourness in his voice was palpable. He had always thought of Morell as a cowardly loser. Deadweights bring down the morale of the force. He did not hate Morell personally which was why he reluctantly accepted to help who Morell referred to as the best in his team. He wanted to see for himself.

"Could you please tell me about the entry records?"

"Looks fine to me. No unusual visitors to Mark's cell before he moved to Victor's or after"

"What do you mean by that?"

"See, I got in touch with this guy, Collin, the cell guard who got fired after the incident. He's as much an incompetent fool as I expected, but he had an interesting detail. He was asked to not guard the cell one day. Was told it was usual circumstances and they had it under control"

"When was this?"

"Three months before Mark moved cells."

"That bastard killed many officers who were on duty. I thought that was why he was locked up. And to not guard that? Yeah, totally normal" Kelly fumed.

"May I know why you are fixated on Mark?"

"I am fixated on a lot of things at this moment. Mark is just one of them. Not only because he embarrassed us all by escaping in a police car. He is just a savage. You see him and it shows. He is not the kind to be scheming and diplomatic and have connections high enough to escort him to safety. Thanks to him, we are a joke. I used to be on his guard before Morell picked me for his team a couple of years ago. Watching that animal day in and day out only made me want to do better with what I have to keep everyone safe. Sorry for getting carried away"